The present invention is directed toward a hockey stick and more particularly, toward a weighted hockey stick that may be used by a player to strengthen and exercise various muscles.
Strong wrist muscles, arm muscles, and other muscles used in handling and shooting with a hockey stick are important to a hockey player. Hockey sticks that have weights supported thereon are used during practice sessions in order to strengthen various muscles as well as to improve the player's coordination, timing, and rhythm.
Prior patents have addressed this concern and provide for various weighted hockey sticks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,479 to Mitchell discloses a hockey stick with a handle where a weighted insert may be inserted in the handle in order to improve the player's swing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,904 to Bass discloses a weighted sport training assembly used to exercise various muscles where the assembly may be used on a hockey stick. The assembly includes a plurality of weights that may be added to the stick. U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,666 to Manory discloses an adjustable hockey stick weight that may be added to the stick wherever the player chooses to use it. U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,560 to Gemmel discloses a U-shaped weight that may be secured anywhere along the length of a hockey stick.
None of these prior patents, however, allows for a plurality of weights to be placed at and secured to various positions along the length of a hockey stick so that several areas of muscles may be exercised simultaneously. Also, none of the prior patents discloses a plurality of weights that may be positioned within the shaft of a practice hockey stick so that the weights are unobtrusive and so that the stick resembles an actual hockey stick that is used during the play of a game. Furthermore, the prior art practice hockey sticks do not provide sufficient flexibility of the stick so as to minimize injury to a player.